Showing posts with label antiques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label antiques. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Altered Art Collage Bottles



I've been saving, collecting, hunting, and buying doo-dads, trinkets, and bottles for awhile now. Ideas and concontions have been brewing, and I've finally pulled some together to create these art pieces. I wanted to do a Mystery Workshop with this idea for the Vintage Room gals, but I just couldn't wait to get some done to display in my bedroom on the shelf over my tv. Now I can enjoy them every night instead of staring at them as empty bottles just waiting to be transformed into a bottle of wishes, wisdom, secrets, love potion, hopes, dreams, and more...
The bottle of Wishes was my first creation. It's a small blue tinted glass bottle I picked up at an antique shop or flea market. I filled it with a half strand of silver beads, some start confetti, small blue glass pebbles (the kind for floral arrangements), a wheat penny on each side, and a small handful of handmade origami wishing stars I made from strips of old music paper. I stuffed the top closed with a spool of varigated blue thread that I was able to remove the cardboard center from and force into the opening. I glued a minature well to the top and tied some blue seam binding ribbon and tan chunky thread around the neck of the bottle. Finally, I hung a blue rhinestone clip-on earring from the ribbon, and glued on the copper word tiles to spell "wish."
The bottle of Wisdom came next. I put a few cream colored pearls and amber toned seed and bugle beads inside, along with several black and yellow feathers. I cut the Wise Old Owl image from a vintage set of animal rummy playing cards and glued it on along with some metal wings and a plastic light bulb. The stopper of the bottle is a metal drawer pull with an ivory owl pendant glued on top. I used a mix of fibers and lace around the neck of the bottle and stuck in a few black stick pins. Finally, I attached a small tag to the loop of the owl pendant to dangle and say, "Ideas & Imagination take flight" on one side, and WISDOM on the back.
The final bottle I've completed so far is a bottle of Secrets. This one doesn't have much inside because the majority of it is collaged on the outside with music paper, the stamped word "secrets" and the phrase "with a smile, and a bit of mystery" pieced together from words cut out of a book, a little girl image, pompom trim, and a plastic dog. I used vintage flowers and pearl sprays, along with a few stick pins and pink lace around the bottle neck. The stopper is another drawer pull coated in silver glass glitter (there is also a little sprinkled inside the bottle) with a pink rhinestone earring piece on top.
Ta Da! More bottled creations to come...

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Exciting News! My first Twinchie Box Custom Order!

After the Galway Fire Department craft fair last Saturday, I stopped at a small antique store on Rt 29 in Galway called Wisteria Lane. It's a sweet shabby chic store and I came to find out that the owner is very supportive of local artists and always looking for new and interesting things that fit in with the look and feel of her store. It just so happened that she loved my little trinket boxes and ordered a dozen for me to tailor to what appeals to her customers most: birds, cats, dogs, flappers and older vintage women. I'm so excited to have my first custom order to fill. I finished these and plan to drop them off on my way to work tomorrow. I'm hoping they will be just what she envisioned and more!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Treasure Hunting

Here's a group shot of all the great treasures I found at the Washington County Antique Show and Flea Market on Saturday. Each item has already found a home in my kitchen, on my dining room hutch, or my living room fireplace mantel.
But some of my most exciting finds lie within the pages of those beat up old books. Photos of early movie stars, a child's primer in Russian, sheet music with the lyrics in French, an early 1900s Speller, and an unused workbook. The ephermera motherload, I might call it. I can't wait to post the creations I come up inspired by those hundred year old sheets of history.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Diamonds in the Dust

My antique store treasures

Cup full of glass jewels, some rimmed in copper tape $6

Set of two British military crown buttons $7

NYC Church Post Card, $1

Radio City Music Hall Post Card, $1
Even though Jeff and I have lived in Gloversville for over a year now, I haven't really taken time on my own to explore much. I just do what I need to do at the grocery store or Walmart, and I drive to work and school. I finally went into "town" today and parked and walked up N. Main Street and discovered a little antique store. I spent $15 on a bag full of treasures to use on my altered art, and I just had to share. I'm excited to see what they will become!